Someone To Lean On
by AnimeGirl 144
Summary: One-Shot. A bit AU-ish. When Gibbs breaks Jodi's heart, who will be there to give her a shoulder to cry on? One sided Palmer/Jodi.


**Hello everyone. So, I don't know if a lot of people watch **_Titan Maximum_**, and I haven't seen a fanfiction for said show, so I decided to write one of my own. Now, this story was prompted on one of the (old) entries at **_Titan Maximum Wiki_**: **_"Palmer carries a secret torch for Jodi. As a consummate ladies' man, Palmer is naturally most drawn to the one prize he can't have, and Jodi's apparent lack of interest in him drives him wild. He was deeply wounded when Gibbs, learning of Palmer's love for Jodi, started dating her just to screw with Palmer. Despite all the mayhem for which Gibbs is later responsible, in Palmer's mind Gibbs' greatest crime was breaking Jodi's heart."_** It seems someone went back and deleted this entry, but I was able to get a hold of it. So, this is what I'm doing this whole one-shot on. I hope you people like it (please don't come on here and flame me, that's not nice). Some constructive criticism would be nice, because I'm thinking of doing another TM fanfic. Times may be a little fuzzy, so I am sorry if they seem incorrect.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!**

**P.S.: I don't curse, so, there's going to be no cursing in here. Also, be pre-warned, there may be major OCC. I'm sorry for that, but I needed to change the personalities just a bit.**

**Title:** Someone to Lean On

**Author:** AnimeGirl 144

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The Commander and red jump suited leader of Titan Force Five, Commander Palmer, stalked down the hallways, grumbling under his breath as he stomped away from the Admiral's office. The Admiral had just informed Palmer that Titan's Defense Department was shutting them down. Palmer raised hell and threw a fit, but the Admiral just smirked behind his desk and ignored everything Palmer said. After an hour of getting nowhere, Palmer left, dreading the day when he and his comrades would be out of a job. His grouchiness was suddenly pushed aside when he heard what sounded like sobbing.

Looking around, he suddenly caught the sight of a young woman with blond hair sitting on the ground against the wall, her head in her arms as she cried. Palmer instantly recognized the woman to be his comrade Jodi Yanarella. He walked over to her and bent down. His usual ego-tistical, arrogant, haughty manner was gone and replaced with a concern Palmer.

"Hey, Jodi, you okay?" Palmer asked in a soft tone after having checked to see that no one was spying on them.

Jodi looked up and revealed to her commander that she was been crying greatly; her eyes were a puffy red and she could barely see the red jump suited man in front of her. After blinking, she tried to dry her tears with her arm, but the tears wouldn't stop. Sobs continued to pour out of her mouth, so she wasn't able to answer him. Palmer looked at her worriedly. He looked around once again (coast was clear) then sat next to her. Surprised, she looked at him with blurry blue eyes. He didn't look at her, only at the wall in front of him. She looked at him, and wiped her tears away more furiously. Though they wouldn't stop, her sobbing was at least placed under control.

"So, do you want to tell me what happened?" Palmer asked suddenly, still very softly. "Are you okay?"

Jodi sniffled and decided to not even bothering to wipe her tears away. She shook her head and was able to manage a, "No" from her mouth. Palmer still didn't look at her.

"What happened?"

Jodi sniffled some more while wiping her tears away. "G-G-Gibbs," she sobbed out. "He-he,... he-" Jodi couldn't finish her sentence as she placed her head in her hands and cried into them.

Palmer looked down at her with a questioning look. He knew about her and Gibbs dating (it had deeply pained him because he had a crush on her), but he wouldn't say much more about it (although he and Sasha would tease the two about it in the robot). But what had Gibbs done that made Jodi so upset? Palmer's eyes widened in realization; Palmer may come off dense, but at times, he was actually a bit smart. Palmer's eyes lids lowered slightly, and, very cautiously, wrapped an arm around her. Jodi didn't react negatively; she even leaned on his shoulder!

"He dumped you, didn't he?"

Jodi nodded, releasing a sob. Anger flashed through his eyes, but that disappeared as sympathy replaced them. He looked back at her, and she was still crying. After a while, she was able to get over crying, and decided to explain what had happened.

"I-I-I wanted to (sniffle) to see if he would w-want to go get so-some dinner," she said. She sniffled and wiped at her tears. "He d-d-dumped me at the sp-spot. He said he was b-bored of me. Said I wasn't good enough for him. Said he could have better." At that, she cried even more.

Palmer was slightly surprised that Gibbs had said such horrible things to Jodi. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him. That same voice had suspicions of Gibbs' sudden interest in Jodi. Palmer had confined his crush for Jodi to Gibbs, who, the next day, asked Jodi out. It had hurt Palmer greatly, but he pushed the feeling aside and considered it all a coincidence. Now, he wasn't so sure. Right now, he needed to help his teammate.

"Hey, it's okay," Palmer assured.

"No it's not," Jodi said, looking up at him with red eyes. "Palmer, he was my everything. I, I really thought we could be together, forever."

Palmer bit his bottom lip, his heart hurting a little after hearing that. He was a ladies' man, yet the one girl he couldn't have was the one crying on his shoulder. He didn't know what else to do, so he decided to wait until she'd released all her tears and stop crying. He said nothing, and would occasionally rub her arm. He didn't know how long he was there, but he was thankful no one (_especially_ not Sasha or the Admiral) was around to see this one moment of a more emotional Palmer. The guy had a reputation to keep, after all.

When he heard a small "Thank you" from the girl, Palmer rubbed her arm one more time before looking at her. "You okay now?" he asked her.

She nodded and wiped the last of her tears away. After a final sniffle, she looked up at him and got out of his one-armed embrace. Palmer gave a small smile before standing up abruptly. Jodi blinked up at him as he wiped his jacket. As he did, she noticed that there was a wet stain on the shoulder where she had been crying. She gasped lightly, and then looked at her knees.

"Sorry, for crying on you," she apologized.

"Hm? Oh, it's okay," Palmer said. "You'll be okay, though, right?"

She nodded and got to her feet, though a bit shakily.

"Yes. Thanks again, you didn't have to do that," she said.

"Don't mention it," Palmer said. _Seriously, don't mention it._ "I'm sure Gibbs will come around. He probably just had a bad day and wasn't thinking straight."

Jodi's eyes sparkled a little, a smile returning to her face. Palmer liked when she smiled; he loved her smiles.

"You think?" she said. When Palmer nodded, her eyes sparkled more. "Thanks Palmer; I think I'll go talk to him again." She started walking away, but stopped as if remembering something. "Oh. What did the Admiral say?"

Palmer's smile fell into a frown as he grimaced. He shook his head, "I'll tell everyone tomorrow. See ya." He walked past her and exited the building. Tomorrow was going to be hell.

And Palmer was right. The next day, after the Admiral, not Palmer, told Titan Force Five about their shutdown, everyone but Gibbs and Palmer threw a fit (Sasha was cursing the Admiral, Spud was crying, and Jodi was pleading). When the Admiral left the team to themselves, Gibbs was the first one to leave. Jodi had tried to talk to him, but he shot her down and said everything he had said to her before, making Jodi go into tears again. Sasha attacked her endlessly about being dumped before the ex-right arm pilot left in tears. Palmer stood in the background and bit his lip, not stopping nor taking part in the torment.

On the official day that Titan Force Five and their robot Titan Maximum was shut down was a dark and gloomy day for them all. Gibbs hadn't shown up, Palmer was surprisingly quiet, Sasha was throwing a fit that could scare any evil-doer, Spud was muttering to himself, and Jodi was crying for two reasons. Palmer looked at her, but she didn't look at him. She cried to herself, and wouldn't cry to anyone else. Palmer looked away and curled his hand into a fist. How dare Gibbs do this? How dare he do that to Jodi? Taking one glance over at Jodi, he quietly sighed as he realized that she wasn't going to lean on anybody for her heartbreak.

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**AN: So, what'd you all think? It was probably terrible, eh? The ending was a little hard for me, and looking back at it now, it was also probably AU-ish. It also didn't really follow the thing that was stated up above, but it also sort-of did. Anyways, tell me what you think and what I can work on. I'm thinking of doing one for Jodi and Sasha (a friendship fic) and Leon and Willie (also a friendship fic). So, until next time, this has been AnimeGirl 144.**


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